Bill Kenna is one of the founders and served as the first secretary/executive director for the Mississippi High School Activities Association. Bill was born in Summit on April 30, 1888, and moved to Lexington where he was superintendent of Lexington schools from 1922 to 1949. Kenna was a member of a select State committee in 1922 to consolidate schoolmaster athletic clubs which had been in existence for 40 years. In 1938, Bill was named General Chairman of a joint committee that represented 10 athletic regions from across the state. In 1939, the committee created a constitution for the organization which was approved by the Mississippi Education Association. In 1949, the Mississippi High School Literary and Athletic Association became the Mississippi High School Activites Association and Kenna was named the first full-time executive director and secretary for the organization. Bill served as executive director from 1949 until his retirement on June 30, 1958. During his tenure, he helped formally name the MHSAA on January 6, 1950, and the organization became duly incorporated on December 19, 1956. Kenna returned to Lexington where he served as Mayor of Lexington for 8 years. Bill was also a charter member of the Lexington Rotary Club and a member of the Lexington F&AM Lodge No. 24 where he served as treasurer and past master. He was deacon from 1917 to 1922 at the Clinton Baptist Church and later in the First Baptist Church in Lexington. Bill passed away on April 22, 1980.